The 5 Stitches Garage.

[taumac]

Just finished up last prep work. All ready now it's just waiting.

Go fuel.



Gen all ready to roll outside.



Chainsaw tuned and blade sharpen.



Screens stored away.



Both vehicles inside.



Grill ready to cook.



And after 2 days I'm having a beer.



All my GJFC family and all other affected stay safe.

 

[sdavis622]

Holding and praying all goes well for you Gerard! Did you stock up in beer as well???


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[taumac]

Holding and praying all goes well for you Gerard! Did you stock up in beer as well???


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Come on now.... of course I did. LOL.

 

[rmalkow2]

Just checking in to see if you were blown away or, best report would be that the only preparation item you had to use was the extra beer.
Hoping you and all in your area were safe through the storm.

 

[taumac]

Sorry, I haven't updated my thread. I did updated FLorida Chapter thread. Few pictures of preparation for Irma.





















We fair out great considering only thing was loss of power for few days. If Irma stayed in Gulf and went up west coast it would have been totally different story. It hit us at Cat 1 I believe. Saturday while my father, his neighbor and myself was boarding up the house we got the called for mandatory evacuation for everyone west of US 19.





We stayed because roads filled and knew there was nowhere to go.

 

[taumac]

All in all a lot of prep work being this is my first hurricane in this house. Charlie 2004 I was renting a villa in the front and had renters insurance. I didn't care to much because place wasn't mine. I knew that when Charlie and other hurricanes hit that year the back of my development lost power for 5 to 7 days. I knew I had to get cars in garage and fuel for my generator to run my refrigerators. Everything else fell back on camping experience and camping gear. Coleman stove, lanterns, and flashlights. Im basically camping at home and in my bed. In the future I got to change few things like having maybe a AC unit and better ways to run my extension cords but overall not to bad for first attempt at this location.

 

[jon72vega]

Gerard,
Glad you're ok.

 

[taumac]

Gerard,

Glad you're ok.

Thanks Jon. We where lucky but there are people that suffered damage and still have no power. Wife is going to drop off 4 cases of water we got to power company crews. They been doing a amazing job restoring power to areas. Ive offered up my generator and fuel to I know that still don't have power.

 

[sdavis622]

Thanks Jon. We where lucky but there are people that suffered damage and still have no power. Wife is going to drop off 4 cases of water we got to power company crews. They been doing a amazing job restoring power to areas. Ive offered up my generator and fuel to I know that still don't have power.

Glad to hear you're ok!


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[Grumblebum]

Thanks for updating G. When I was looking at the hurricane satellite images it looked like it went right over your place.

GB.

 

[taumac]

Thanks for updating G. When I was looking at the hurricane satellite images it looked like it went right over your place.

GB.

Well it almost did. Here a pic off the local news app showing projected tracks.



It weakened and moved back to the east of me.

 

[rmalkow2]

Glad to hear you came through ok. Good preparation paid off and it's awesome that you can share what you have. If you see any Detroit Edison repair crews down there tell them Michigan says hello.
My sister's house in Cape Coral escaped any major damage as well. A bunch of screens torn and the biggest issue may be damage to their canal sea wall.
I guess the whole thing could have been a lot worse.

 

[taumac]

We got 3 Tropical storms/ hurricanes out in the Atlantic. Hurricane Maria seems to be only threat as of now. I have a funny suspicion we are going to see another hurricane season like 2004.

On another note spent the weekend cleaning up from Irma. Saturday spent at inlaws mowing the lawn, trimming trees, and picking up debris. Sunday spent doing the same at my house and I pressure washed back patio.

I spent all weekend just cleaning up and doing normal weekly choirs. I need to duplicate myself and fine some minions to do my work. LOL.

 

[HSpencer]

Gerard

We thought of you often while watching the Weather Channel last week. I am very pleased you had no injury or damages. Hope your situation in FL clears as quickly as possible and life gets back to normal!

ALL THE BEST!

Herb

 

[Bob Heine]

I just met a girl named Maria.

Even before relief got to the Virgin Islands they got hit by Jose. Now Maria is taking care of whatever was left. When our cruise ships stopped in St. Thomas I always admired how sturdy their hoses were built but it looks like it didn't protect them this year.

Glad to hear you came through with minimal damage. Same for me -- it's a bit more yard work than usual but no repairs to the house is a blessing.

 

[taumac]

Gerard

We thought of you often while watching the Weather Channel last week. I am very pleased you had no injury or damages. Hope your situation in FL clears as quickly as possible and life gets back to normal!

ALL THE BEST!

Herb

Thanks Herb it just a lot of small cleanup and trying to get both houses back together. Its good thing both MIL and my house don't need to much weekly maintenance.

 

[BBChevro]

Hey Gerard, good to hear that you came through Irma without any significant damage.

 

[taumac]

I just met a girl named Maria.

Even before relief got to the Virgin Islands they got hit by Jose. Now Maria is taking care of whatever was left. When our cruise ships stopped in St. Thomas I always admired how sturdy their hoses were built but it looks like it didn't protect them this year.

Glad to hear you came through with minimal damage. Same for me -- it's a bit more yard work than usual but no repairs to the house is a blessing.

You are correct sir. I can't complain at all and could have been a lot worse. I'm hoping roof stays in tack until end of the hurricane season. Its my second layer of shingles and year or so left until that 20 year mark. I know insurance is gonna want it replaced because they did same to father when roof hit 20 years. Thank you citizens. We have money in bank and looking for roofer but gonna hold off until after the hurricane season.

 

[dlcwent]

Glad to hear you're okay Gerard. You guys down that way had me concerned. Now I've got to check in with the rest of my FL. friends.

 

[taumac]

Hey Gerard, good to hear that you came through Irma without any significant damage.

Thank you. It seems like this hurricane season is going to be a little active so hopefully make it through It the season ok. Irma was a big bullet we dodged and hopefully that's the biggest one we have this season.

 

[taumac]

Alittle humor for today.

 

[taumac]

Well when mama ain't happy I'm not happy....

Well wife wakes me from dead sleep to tell me something wrong with the AC. Me being the pleasant person I am being woken up at 12 o'clock in the morning from dead sleep I turn the AC fan from Auto to On and go back to sleep. Zzzzzzzzzz

I wake up this morning and start checking out stuff. Check breakers and disconnects. I go back up in attic double check float switch and notice drip pan filled with water. WTF. Well there's my issue. I thought I had a pvc line in the pan but forgot the most recent install didn't put a pvc tube in the pan but wired a second float switch in the pan so if drip tube clogged it would drip into pan then second switch turn off the AC.







Well OK found issue but how am I gonna drain the pan? Well I store my bigger 10 gallon shop vac in attic so I'll just **** it out. Well I start emptying pan but vac shuts off before pan is empty.



Ok now WHAT THE F@CK am I gonna do. I thought maybe open drain and catch it in bucket. NO!!!! Maybe just use hose and siphon it down. That take to long. Oh I forgot I had submersible pump but in was in my way and can't remember where I put the F@CKING thing. After a half hour I find it.



I'll pump water from shop vac in attic down to the sink. I figure there was about 14 to 15 gallons of water in the pan. I finish emptying the pan lower the readjust the float switch. I did this because pan was on a angle and almost started dripping out of the pan onto ceiling.

Next I have to clear the drip line. Drag the hose from side of the house up into the attic and flush the line. I used a strainer I had to see what came out. Its pretty nasty.



I did make up a P trap idea that I clean out from time to time. Things have been fine for 10 years and matter of fact I just cleaned out P trap and ran hose up tube and thought it was clean because stuff did come out last time.





After that I waited for unit to kick on and all working ok. Then to another issue I had. The condenser made noise.

First the motor cover made some noise.



Then the motor grate was vibrating and still making noise.
So I needed like a piece of rubber and I found perfect stuff.







I tried to post a video but couldn't. I can tell you its significantly quieter.

 

[Strouty]

That was gross.

 

[Bob Heine]

Gerard, do you want fries with that?

The guys who installed my previous system thought the overflow drain pan should tilt away from the PVC pipe. When the float switch finally shut off the system it had already stained the ceiling. At least the sheetrock didn't come down.

 

[taumac]

That was gross.

You ain't kidding. I didn't expect all that to come out.

 

[Strouty]

I am just glad there is no smellovision.

 

[taumac]

Gerard, do you want fries with that?

The guys who installed my previous system thought the overflow drain pan should tilt away from the PVC pipe. When the float switch finally shut off the system it had already stained the ceiling. At least the sheetrock didn't come down.

OH you don't want to get me started on the guy who did my AC. We had sinkhole back in 2008. We had Citizens insurance that we filed the claim. Under them we had a 3rd party rep ( can't remember company). Under them we had company called Instar doing the repairs to my home. To top it all off Instar subbed all the work out. [emoji35][emoji35][emoji35][emoji35]

Now with that out of the way there's long story about this AC unit. While leveling my house they removed small side slab on side of my garage which also is where condenser unit is. They disconnect my condenser, put it in back yard and restall it after foundation work was done and new slab was poured. Thank god is was January. They reinstall unit and say it all done. On paperwork they lied saying they went in my attic and completely check out system and working fine. That's funny because no home was home to allow access and AC wasn't working good. We say that's ******** and we want new system. Instar says fine and tells me to find a company you want and we take in from there. I had local company Sencia to look at it and said $3500 dollars. Problem is Instar won't paid them right away and girls at Sencia said guy at Instar was a *******. [emoji35][emoji35][emoji35][emoji35] He was but... so 2 more companies and no one wanted to do business with them. I ended up having to use same ******* who F@CKED up my original unit. Ok fine I say so I paid extra to upgrade from a 2.5 to 3. ton unit and set date to install.

Installing new unit went ok and AC worked for.... few days.
[emoji35][emoji35][emoji35] [emoji35]
So call ******* at Instar and told him get that MOTHERF@FUCKER out here to fix it. Well he comes out and turns out it was bad float switch or something. That last a week until I see my guest bath ceiling all wet. That F@CKER never glued the drip pvc drip tube together. I again call Instar and tell ******* what that MOTHERF@CKER did. I said 2 cents of PVC glue? Really???? Now Instar have to repair my whole ceiling in my guest bath. [emoji35][emoji35][emoji35][emoji35][emoji35]

I couldn't wait for work to be done at my house. Between Citizens, Instar and all the ****** subs they used it was 1.5 year of hell. I had to spend every vacation baby sitting people doing work in my house. Sorry the paver driveway guys where awesome.


So..... 5 or 6 years later my AC stops working. I call the installer but he's out of business. Instar didn't return my calls. I call a company my dads knows and guy comes to check it out. It turns out just to be a start capacitor. I remember unit had a 10 year warranty so great. Nope, the MOTHERF@CKER never turned the warranty paperwork in so that 10 year warranty was then voided. [emoji35][emoji35][emoji35][emoji35][emoji35] it ended up being a under $150 to fix so I was happy it wasn't anything big.


I'm really glad it was just clogged tube and nothing serious but work this guy did still haunting me.

 

[Bob Heine]

Gerard, sounds like you had some of Florida's finest take care of you. Must have been members of that famous business club: We upped our income, now up yours.

I thought I would save some time and give a struggling business some easy work. Dropped off the two rear axle half shafts from my big block Corvette one afternoon and asked the owner to press out the four universals. "Piece of cake, I'll have them ready tomorrow morning." Next morning I arrived to find all the doors open and the inside stripped to the bare floors and walls. The building owner was there and said the guy left town owing three month's rent. A $300 mistake but it could have been one of my cars. Haven't left an overnight job with anyone since then. Also why I do my own framing repairs. Takes me longer but I don't have to listen to long boring excuses.

I have had that start capacitor go out twice in 20 years. Last fail was on a Saturday night so I ordered two -- the spare is in a box marked A/C Emergency and also has a compressor contactor in it. Of course they are for the Carrier system I replaced last year. I better go order parts for the RUUD system. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[jon72vega]

Gerard,
Good job on getting the AC sorted.
That stuff out of the drip line was nasty.

 

[rmalkow2]

As per all others, good job finding and clearing the drip tube. Now everyone in the house can be cool and happy. You had the right tools for the job and, like me you just had to take that half hour to remember where you put them. I wish I had all those half hours in my life back but it's better than not having the tool at all.

 

[shortykorte]

Glad you got it fixed. I need to put "check drain" on the regular maintenance list since my unit is in attic now.


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[taumac]

I am just glad there is no smellovision.

LOL [emoji23]

 

[taumac]

Gerard, sounds like you had some of Florida's finest take care of you. Must have been members of that famous business club: We upped our income, now up yours.

I thought I would save some time and give a struggling business some easy work. Dropped off the two rear axle half shafts from my big block Corvette one afternoon and asked the owner to press out the four universals. "Piece of cake, I'll have them ready tomorrow morning." Next morning I arrived to find all the doors open and the inside stripped to the bare floors and walls. The building owner was there and said the guy left town owing three month's rent. A $300 mistake but it could have been one of my cars. Haven't left an overnight job with anyone since then. Also why I do my own framing repairs. Takes me longer but I don't have to listen to long boring excuses.

I have had that start capacitor go out twice in 20 years. Last fail was on a Saturday night so I ordered two -- the spare is in a box marked A/C Emergency and also has a compressor contactor in it. Of course they are for the Carrier system I replaced last year. I better go order parts for the RUUD system. Thanks for the reminder.

Glad I could be of some help. At least I jogged that memory of yours. LOL

 

[taumac]

Gerard,
Good job on getting the AC sorted.
That stuff out of the drip line was nasty.

Yep, I’m guess flushing the line goes into the yearly maintenance program. ****.... that reminds me I’m overdo for my water heater flushing. Damn my house is having issues lately.

 

[taumac]

As per all others, good job finding and clearing the drip tube. Now everyone in the house can be cool and happy. You had the right tools for the job and, like me you just had to take that half hour to remember where you put them. I wish I had all those half hours in my life back but it's better than not having the tool at all.

Yes sir I can say the same. I think of all the time I just spent working on the garage. I could probably regain few years right there. LOL.

 

[krcoomer]

Glad you got it fixed. I need to put "check drain" on the regular maintenance list since my unit is in attic now.

There is some stuff to put in the pan that cleans that line out that I have seen at Home Depot. It is sold near the cans of coil cleaner and air filters which are the other pieces of routine maintenance that about anyone can do and everyone can learn. IIRC, the stuff is like a bleach only better. I will try to snap a picture of it the next time I am there.

Gerard: Did you ream the line or blow it out with compressed air?

 

[Strouty]

He sucked that stuff out, then spit it into the pan. Tampa taught him well.

 

[taumac]

Yep, seems lately my house just doesn’t like me lately. It all started with the outdoor lighting. Which I still haven’t redone the transformers yet. Then right after Irma the sprinkler timer let go. Still haven’t finished mounting that. Then I had sprinkler line crack. Actually, this one isn’t anybody fault the the damn landscapers who when the resoded mine lawn ran right over my valve bodies and broke a few. I wasn’t home to see the fix but worked when I got back home. I have no F@CKING clue what you can see right side of T popped out of the joint.




What the hell is with contractors not using pvc glue? I also don’t understand why they went from 3/4 valve to 1/2 back to 3/4? I fixed it and put big hole in front yard trying to get everything to work.







One issue is original system was ran with sch 200 pipe and all repairs don’t with sch 40. I was also ready to rip system out from the valves and and wiring but I didn’t. One I knew get expensive and knew also that would turn into a outright honey nut F@CKING cluster. Next day check it and no leaks so cooler heads prevailed.

Last night I’m tuning up my front yard heads and one broke. WTF. Arrrrrggggggghhhhhh. I really can’t complain tooo much. 12 years ago I swap out all big 3/4 sprinklers with leftovers from my dads bins of old parts. I got 10 Hunter PGH heads working great with 6 GPH nozzles. I got 4 in front and 5 in back. Had 6 in back before patio. Those crapped out so I had 10 Thunderbird heads with 3.0 GPH nozzles. Now those final crapping out. It would be so bad if ones by the street weren’t run over by everyone the can’t drive. Aaarrrrgggghhhh. So this week I’ll be replacing those with either K rains or Hunters once again.

 

[taumac]

He sucked that stuff out, then spit it into the pan. Tampa taught him well.

Nope, Tampa and I friendship never got to that level. He did say that you and him had a “special” friendship. I’m not sure what that all includes but I wasn’t about to ask. Now, the Fab Four can **** all the meat off a chicken leg without effort. LOL.

 

[taumac]

There is some stuff to put in the pan that cleans that line out that I have seen at Home Depot. It is sold near the cans of coil cleaner and air filters which are the other pieces of routine maintenance that about anyone can do and everyone can learn. IIRC, the stuff is like a bleach only better. I will try to snap a picture of it the next time I am there.



Gerard: Did you ream the line or blow it out with compressed air?

Now funny thing is my pan doesn’t have a pvc drain line on the pan. It has the drip tube and if that gets clogged they overflows into the pan. The pan has a float switch which will shut off the compressor when level gets to certain level.

I’ve I heard of the coil cleaner you speak of but never used it. I was going to buy some when evaporator in my truck was freezing up. I was able to remove the blower fan and between a hose and compressed air able to clean it so air was flowing.

As far as what I use to clean line I just use 5/8 garden hose with this set up.